Sheet metal forming machine



Feb Mr 1939. c. A. FRlCK 2,147,432

SHEET METAL FORMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 50, 1955 3 Sweats-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. A FRICK SHEET METAL FORMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 30, 1935 Feb. 14, 1939.

INVENTOR. 0/7651 er]! .Frzclz,

vx gga ATTORNEYS I la Feb. 14, 1939. A F 2,147,432

SHEET METAL FORMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 30, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in sheet metal forming machines and has for one of its objects that of providing a forming machine which will provide a brake for bending the sheet metal along a definite line which brake shall be readily operated by one unskilled in the sheet metal working art and which also will provide means for receiving metal bending rolls whereby on one and the same machine the metal may be bent on sharp angle lines or may be bent on a curve to form cylindrical objects and the like.

In addition to the above it is one of the objects of my invention to provide a machine whereby on the roll portion thereof I may mount suitable crimpers or bending rolls.

For the purpose of disclosing my invention I have illustrated an embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the table and its associated metal brake;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of one end thereof, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the table with 5 the roll formers associated therewith;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the roll formers;

Fig. 6 is an end view showing the projection of the roll former shafts;

Fig. 7 isa perspective view of the crimper rolls; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of the header rolls.

In the structure illustrated I provide a suitable table or support I which is formed of a rather heavy casting to give solidity and the top of which is made perfectly smooth and plane to provide a suitable work surface for the device in event it is desired to be used as a bench. This bed or table I is mounted on preferably angle shaped legs 2 bolted to the four corners of the downwardly extending flange 3 of the bed and connected together intermediate of their ends by braces 4. Cross feet 5, likewise formed of angles and bolted to the lower ends of the legs,

5 give additional rigidity to the bed or table I.

Mounted at each side of the table I, preferably by being bolted to the ends of the table, is a pair of vertical guide standards 6 and I which form guides for the upper clamping 'jaws 5g 8 of the brake. These jaws are mounted on a cross bar 9 countersunk at II) on its upper face to receive the clamping jaws 8, which are formed in sections and are bolted to the upper face In by suitable screws II. These screws pass 55 through elongated openings II' in the jaws 8 to permit adjustment of the jaws, and to gauge this adjustment, a gauge bar 9' is interposed between the backs of the jaws 8 and a shoulder 9 on the bar 9. This gauge bar 9' has two dimensions in cross section to permit different 5 positions of the clamp. At each end of the cross bar 9 I provide guides I2 having on their outer faces grooves to receive the guide rails 5 and I. These grooves are preferably closed by face plates I3. The face plates are provided on 10 their outer faces with operating pins I4 preferably headed as at I5 to receive the open sided rings I6 mounted on the upper ends of the operating links H. Each of these operating links,

at its lower end, surrounds an eccentric I8 keyed 15 as at I 9 on a shaft 20 extending through the lower ends of the guide rails 6 and I and provided at each end with an operating handle 2| for rotating the same. This arrangement provides for the raising and lowering of the clamp- 20 ing plates or clamping jaws 8, and likewise, due

to the fact that the rings I6 are open on the sides, being closed by pins 22, the operating connection between the shaft 20 and the guides I2 may be disconnected to permit the removing of 25 the cross bar 9 and its associated clamping jaws 8. Furthermore, the links I! are formed in two sections I1 and I1, one I'I' being threaded into the other H" so that with the links disconnected from the cross bar, the length of the links may 30 be modified. The clamping jaws are arranged at an acute angle with reference to the surface of the table I but the under faces or clamping faces of the jaws are made parallel with the surface of the table or bed I. These clamping jaws cooperate with a clamping plate 23 of about the same width as the clamping face of the jaws and are screwed or otherwise secured to a bed plate 24 in turn mounted on the top surface of the table I. The bed plate 24 is secured at its 40 ends to end plates 28 by means of bolts 24 and these end plates in turn are fastened to the ends of the table I by screws 28'. Due to the fact that this bed plate 24 is removably mounted on the table I, it is apparent that when the clamping jaws are removed and the bed plate 24 removed, the flat plane surface table will be provided.

Cooperating with the clamping jaws 8 is a bending leaf 25 provided at its opposite ends with pintles 26 secured in upwardly extending ears 21 on the sides of the leaf. These pintles are pivoted in openings formed in side plates 28 bolted to the sides of the table and the centers of these pintles coincide with the upper inner edge 29 of the leaf 25 and at the point where this leaf meets the edge of the clamping plates. Suitable operating handles 30 are formed in the lower, when the leaf is lowered, edge of the bending leaf for moving the same on its pivots. The upper outer face of the bending leaf 25 is faced with a plate 3| countersunk in the face of the plate and having its upper edge parallel with and forming a continuation of the upper edge of the bending leaf.

It is obvious that in operation, when the sheet metal is inserted between the clamping jaws 8 and the clamping plate 23 and the jaws moved downwardly into engagement therewith by the operation of the eccentrics on the shaft 20, when the leaf 25 is swung upwardly, the metal will be bent on the line of joint between the leaf and the edge of the clamping plates.

In addition to the brake mechanism above described, the table may be provided with a roll former. This roll former comprises the two side plates 32 which are connected together by a cross web 33. Mounted between these side plates is a pair of feeding rolls, upper 34 and lower 35, geared together by gear teeth 36 and 3'! respectively on the upper and lower rolls. The upper roll is mounted in vertically sliding blocks 38, one at each end, which slide in grooves 39 formed on the inner face of each of the side plates 32. The gear teeth are made of sufiicient depth so that the rolls may be quite widely separated without the gears being disconnected, thus permitting the feeding of different'gauges of metal through the rolls. To permit of vertical adjustment, the blocks 38 are held against vertical movement by adjusting screws 38', one at each end, extending through top plates 40 formed on the side members 32. Each top plate is pivotally mounted as at 40 and provided with a latch slot 40" engaging a headed pin 40". This permits the swinging of the plates to one side so that the roll 34 may be removed and metal which may have been rolled thereon slipped off the end of the roll.

At one end, the end opposite the crank 4| which is pinned to the shaft extension of the bottom roll extending through a side plate, the rolls are provided with extensions 43 and 44 which project through and beyond a side plate. These extensions provide driving means for the reception of crimpers 45, as illustrated in Fig. 7, or beading rolls 46, as illustrated in Fig. 8.

Cooperating with the upper roll 34 is a bending roll 41 which is mounted on sliding blocks 48, one at each end of the roll, operating in grooves 49 formed on the inner faces of the side members 32. These blocks are adjustable diagonally to or from the upper roll 34 through the medium of adjusting screws 50 which extend through the back plates 5| of each of the grooved portions 48.

The side plates 32 are so spaced as to accurately fit over the table I and embrace the two edges of the table, the roll former resting on the table on its web 33 and being positioned and held against displacement, at least in one direction, by the guide rails 6 and I on the table. Screws passing through openings in the web 33 and into the table I also hold the roll former in position.

Due to the fact that the bed plate 24 is secured to the end members 28 which in turn are secured to the table I and due to the fact that the apron 25 is pivoted between the end members 28, when the screw securing the end members to the table top are removed, the entire structure, the apron, and the bed plate, may be removed as a unit without disassembly. As has heretofore been pointed out, the clamp including the clamp plates 8 and the cross bar 9, may, by disconnecting the links ll, be removed as a unit without disassembling any of these parts. When the clamp unit as has been described is removed from the standard 6, ample space is provided to permit the placing in position, on the table, of the bending rolls.

I claim:

1. In a sheet metal bending machine, the combination with a flat bed, of a pair of guide standards mounted to extend vertically on either side of said bed, heads slidably mounted on said standards, pins extending transversely from said heads, a cross bar carried by said heads, a shaft extending between said standards beneath said bed, ec-

centrics mounted at either end of said shaft, links having eccentric straps embracing said eccentrics at one end and having open-sided straps at the other end arranged to embrace said pins, a cross bar connected to said heads, clamping screws carried by said cross bar and a bending leaf pivotally mounted at the front end of said bed to cooperate with said clamping screws.

2. In a sheet metal bending machine, the combination with a flat bed, of a pair of guide standards mounted on either side of said bed and 1 adapted to extend vertically above and below said bed, heads slidably mounted on said standards, a cross bar carried by said heads, clamping jaws mounted on said cross bar, operating pins extending laterally from said heads, a shaft mounted in said standards below said bed, eccentrics mounted on the ends of said shafts, eccentric straps embracing said eccentrics, links having open-sided rings receiving said transversely extending pins and a bending leaf pivotally mountstandards beneath said bed, eccentrics mounted on said shaft at the outer ends thereof, eccentric straps embracing said eccentrics, a link extending between said straps and said pins on the cross heads, a pair of side plates removably mounted on the sides of said bed and a bending leaf pivotally mounted between said plates and arranged to cooperate with said clamping jaws.

4. In a sheet metal bending machine, the combination with a flat bed, of a pair of guide standards mounted one on either side of said bed and adapted to extend vertically above and below said bed, heads slidably mounted on said standards, a cross bar carried by said heads, a shoulder formed on said cross bar, clamping jaws mounted on said cross bar and adjustable relative to said shoulder, a gauge bar interposed between the ends of said jaws and said shoulder and having two dimensions in cross sections, and means for vertically moving said cross bar to thereby vertically move said clamping jaws.

CHESTER A. FRICK. 

